No obligation to accuracy
The Melon Farmers have picked up on an interesting story that raises the issue of the BBFC’s obligation to accuracy.
The Doctor Who – The Beginning DVD Box Set has a 12 rating. Want to know why?
Basically, it was a mistake by the BBFC. We had bleeped the word “bastard” in one of the comedy sketches and they believed that what they could hear was an inadequately bleeped “fucker”. They can’t reverse decisions, even if the error is theirs, and so the only option would be to resubmit for re-classification – and that re-submission would need to be a different version. As BBC Video were fine with a 12, they decided to let it stand.
Resubmitting a film for re-classification forces the distributor to pay for the BBFC’s mistakes. If the BBFC gets a classification wrong, they should be responsible for correcting it.